The next day, the snow cleared, and the sun rose.
The estate was cloaked in silver and gold hues, while Xiaozhao was wrapped in a big cotton coat, leaning on a small cane, leaving two tiny footprints and a round hole slowly stretching into the distance.
The cotton coat was very warm, with the fluffy collar enveloping her neck, revealing only a cute face and a pair of eyes smiling like new moons.
Numerous pitch-black crows stood on either the rockery, tall trees, or rooftops, with wild yet calm eyes, overlooking the lively courtyard.
"One, two, three..."
"One, two, three, four, five, five..."
"One, two, two, don’t run, don’t run..."
"Wah wah wah!"
Xiao Ping’an sat on the boss lady’s lap, counting the crows, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t count beyond "five" because the crows kept flying around, preventing him from counting.
This made Xiao Ping’an cry loudly, tears streaming down his face.
While he cried, Xiaozhao laughed.
Lady Yan ran over, gently tapped her little head, and said, "Don’t bully your brother."
"Bitter Bag, Bitter Bag~~"
Xiaozhao pointed at Xiao Ping’an, giggling, her glassy eyes showing a cute and innocent beauty.
This term "Bitter Bag" left both Lady Yan and the boss lady momentarily stunned before realizing it was a play on "Crybaby," implying that Xiao Ping’an cries easily.
After hearing this phrase, Xiao Ping’an was also dumbfounded for a moment, then quickly caught on to its meaning, and started crying even harder.
Lady Yan hurried to the boss lady’s side to comfort Xiao Ping’an together.
Meanwhile, Xiaozhao was wobbling through the snowy white ground with her cane, surrounded by large flocks of crows that flew around her like black flames adorned with red rubies.
After completing his routine morning practice, Li Yuan also came over, looking to enjoy some family time.
He raised his head and glanced at the crows.
Fifteen.
The number is "18~20."
He remembered that in March, there were only six.
Is this one more per month?
And the number "18~20" is already considered Ninth Grade Martial Artist, not strong, but truly Ninth Grade.
His own daughter, what exactly is she?
His thoughts flashed by, then were instantly broken.
In the babyish voice of Little Cotton Pajamas blended with laughter, she shouted, "Daddy, hug, hug hug!"
She was leaning on the cane with her left hand and raising her right hand.
No one could refuse such a heartwarming gesture from Li Yuan.
He quickly walked over and picked up Little Cotton Pajamas.
Little Cotton Pajamas let go of the cane.
Li Yuan hugged her and spun in circles in the snow before he stopped, then held her with one hand, grasping the small cane with the other, went to a small pavilion on the side, placed the cane on the table, and then looked at his crying son, holding Little Cotton Pajamas’ hand out and said, "You need to get along well."
Little Cotton Pajamas smiled broadly, extending her tender little hand in front of Xiao Ping’an.
Xiao Ping’an "hmphed" and turned his head away.
Little Cotton Pajamas swiftly caught his hand, shouting, "Bitter Bag, don’t cry."
"Wah!!" Xiao Ping’an started crying again.
The boss lady hurried to comfort him.
Lady Yan said from the side, "Xiaozhao, don’t call your brother Bitter Bag."
Apparently, Little Cotton Pajamas still didn’t know how to express slightly complex ideas, so she lay dazedly in her father’s arms.
Li Yuan smiled and said, "Let’s build a snowman."
After saying that, he asked, "Where is Niannian?"
Lady Yan replied, "In the Martial House."
The boss lady said, "Isn’t it in the Martial House, Niannian recently went to my place again."
Lady Yan looked over curiously.
The boss lady said, "Didn’t I also form a small merchant team, mainly selling wine, along with mountain goods and animal skins. That merchant team has been running around the surroundings a few times, and Niannian seems quite interested, so she ran off to chat with the team leader."
Lady Yan couldn’t help but laugh, "Such a crafty little thing."
Li Yuan looked at the boss lady and said, "Sister Xue, Niannian probably wants to purchase better puppet materials. If she wants to buy, don’t skimp on the money, let her buy."
The boss lady rolled her eyes at her husband, playfully responded, "You’re the only one who dotes on her."
Li Yuan smiled, then took his son and daughter to build snowmen together.
Not long after, he made a small snowman;
Feeling unsatisfied, he made a larger one;
Still not enough, he built a snow house several meters high, hollowed out the middle, and made a snow table with five chairs.
Ordinary people couldn’t do this, but Li Yuan could.
Seeing this, both Lady Yan and the boss lady couldn’t help but burst into laughter, their childlike spirit rekindled, and they each squeezed into the snow house, looking around, before brewing some tea and drinking around the snow table.
Sunlight shone through the ice crystals, casting dreamy colored arcs inside the house.
Xiao Ping’an was no longer crying, blinking his eyes, and excitedly wandering around the snow house.
The crows were flying around, Little Cotton Pajamas clinging to her father.
The family was happy together, and when the snow house started melting, Xiao Ping’an began crying again.
Little Cotton Pajamas ran over, patting his head, and said, "Buku, buku."
The boss lady curiously asked, "Is Xiaozhao imitating bird calls?"
Lady Yan replied speechlessly, "She’s trying to tell her brother not to cry."
...
...
Days spent by...
Internally consolidated, external enemies avoided the path, five small counties developing smoothly and steadily.
Other than poor harvests in the fields year after year, there wasn’t much to be dissatisfied with.
But since the five small counties were now led by Li Yuan, his word carried decisive weight.
On the advice of Lady Yan and the boss lady, he reopened the fields and even assigned miscellaneous task disciples to help farmers with farming, treating it as a form of training, with successful participants earning Sect Points to exchange for resources.